Is “Brave” Merida the Next Disney Princess?

Is Rapunzel going to have to step down from her high pedestal above Cinderella, Belle, Aurora and Snow White in “Mickey’s Soundsational Parade”?

I know not.

I know nothing of this Merida, except that she is a princess.

But being a princess alone is not enough to be one of the Disney Princesses ™. I’ll refer you to the “Dissed By Disney” rant I wrote back in February if you seek a “for instance”.

Merida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor. An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom.

In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman and is granted an ill-fated wish.

Now you know as much as I do.

So if Merida wishes to enter to Royal Disney Clique, all she really needs is two major things:

1. Box office numbers. Pixar’s track record for telling great stories, kinda makes this a given.

While “Cars 2″ is being considered a “not great” sequel, the “not greatness” of it is being pinned on Disney’s record with sequels rather than Pixar’s record with stories. Many of the complaints I’ve heard (none of which came from true-blue Disney fans) were that this was expected when Pixar married itself to Disney.

2. She needs to get herself a man. Unmarried princesses don’t make the cut.

After doing some research, a.k.a. racking my brains, the only Disney Princess that makes the husband factor an open question is Pocahontas. Clearly she does not marry John Smith, in fact, in “Pocahontas II” she dumps that fool in favor of John Rolfe (in a very transparent effort for Disney to be at least a little historically accurate).

At the end of that movie, she’s seen sailing off into the sunset with Rolfe. Historically, Pocahontas does marry John Rolfe, which, to me, makes her as much his wife as original Greek mythology makes Meg (Megara) from “Hercules” a princess, so there you go.

But I digress…

So assuming Merida fits the requirements of the Disney Princess line, the question is, where in the Disneyland Resort will she fit in?

Yes, she’s digital like Rapunzel, but she’s a Pixar character. Rapunzel is pure Disney magic and doesn’t stand under the Pixar banner, so I wonder what the deal is going to be, don’t you?

Seeing as Pixar has dug itself into Disney’s California Adventure Park like P.T. Flea, it begs the question. Will Merida rule DCA alone, single and proud, or will she buckle to social convention, hook up with some dude and join the Princess club in Disneyland?

I mean, Pixar Princesses Atta and Dot are nowhere near the Disney Princesses.

They’re ants though– they’d get Raid in the face or squished.

I’m pretty sure that  Mulan can’t take that cricket anywhere near Cinderella, though it’s perfectly okay for Cinderella to hang out with rats. Hypocrite.

Disney/Pixar’s “Brave” won’t hit theaters until summer next year. That’s a whole year for them to figure it out, if they haven’t figured it out already.

All we can do is wonder.

Of course if “Brave” sucks, we’re talking about nothing here.

 

Star Tours Annual Pass Holder Event Report

I’m not gonna rehash what all the other bloggers have already written, so if you want that in-depth, spoiler thing, go to them. I’m just going to do my best to recall my first experience on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue and I won’t go into TOO much detail because I’m not trying to wreck it for people.

New Star Trader Photo Report 5-15-11

Yesterday was just another trip to the park for me. I don't keep very good track of the events, but it just so happened that when I was there, Disneyland was giving Cast Members a preview of the new Star Tours. Yeah… I tried to creep up close to the door and sneak a couple of shots inside, but I was very efficiently intercepted by like pretty much every cast member there. Those guys stick together like, I don't know, Hell's Angels or something. Anyway, this is all I got of that:

 

While that was going on, I had a chance to check out the newly redesigned Star Trader store, and was pretty impressed with the changes. The theme is pretty much all "Star Wars". Instead of the goofy sci-fiishkiddie kind of music that they used to play in there, now the soundtracks of the "Star Wars" films play over the speakers.

If you're a Star Wars fan, feast your eyes:

Some pretty cool stuff. The t-shirts that are faded and all cool like are upwards of $30 a piece, and they are in serious need of more XL sizes (assuming that they hadn't sold out of them all by the time I got there). I mean it's fricking Disneyland, who are they kidding with their Mediums and Smalls? They had a cool shirt that I would have bought except their biggest size was Large, and I'm like "WTF?"

I can't be sure, but it's also looking more and  more as if the Starcade is being derezzed in favor of merchandising. And why not, says I? If someone wants to play video games at DLR they can whip out their iPhone (or other handheld device).

That Starcade still has an entire upper-level that has been closed off since… I can't remember that far back! We should speculate as to what they can do with that empty space: another place to eat perhaps? Or just make that gift shop even bigger? Who knows? 

So it's mostly Star Trader stuff taking up room. There is perhaps one row of coin-op video games that I saw against the wall…that nobody was playing.

I'd have gotten pictures to show of that, but to be honest, I just didn't. I was too busy trying to decide what I was going to buy. ~Paul J. Hale

Dissed By Disney: The Forgotten Princesses

Since I’ve been sick and bedridden for a little while, I watched some Disney movies just to kind of refresh my Disney film knowledge, and let’s face it, to make me feel better. It got me thinking about the “Disney Princess” line, which in turn got me to thinking about Disney Princesses who didn’t make the grade, and was kept out of the limelight.

[Read more...]

Disney Double 5 Collection

From the Disney Parks Blog

Disney Double 5

The New Year has brought many exciting new things including the introduction of a new “house label,” that will rock the Disney fashion world. If you’re looking to add more of an edge to your current “Disney” look, then you will definitely enjoy this sneak peek from the new Disney Double 5 Collection, which will debut February 5 at D Street at the Disneyland Resort. While it may be quite different than the norm, it’s fun and often inspiring to see how some of our new artists interpret our classic characters and give them a little bit of an urban Disney twist.

Disney Double 5 Collection

There are quite a few different designs to choose from, including “How You Like Me?”, “World Famous” and Half Steppin’, among others. Not only will you find the designs on original and limited edition artwork, but you’ll also find it on ladies and men’s tees, tanks and hats.

When asked about what inspired some of these new designs, artist Les Schettkoe says, “in some instances, like the “How You Like Me?” painting, I just wanted to show that even scruffier kids are big Mickey Mouse fans at heart. I wanted to give Mickey Mouse a different attitude, a different look and an altogether different feel, sort of have him, walking tough.”

Disney Double 5 Collection

Here’s a special tip for you. If this new style has kind of piqued your interest, or you know someone that you think this would be the perfect fit for, then be sure to let stop by D Street to meet the artist and designer, Les Schettkoe from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at D Street.

“TRON: Legacy” Colectible Pins Available

Julie Young, developer for open and limited edition pins, shared details behind the open edition Mickey Mouse as Tron pin. [Read more...]